Distinguish the question
Provenance asks who owned or held a work. Attribution asks who made it. Exhibition history asks where and when it was shown. These records may inform one another without becoming interchangeable.
Retain the qualifying words
Getty’s CDWA guidance makes room for uncertainty and for alternative or former attributions. A catalogue entry that qualifies a name should not be shortened to an unqualified statement elsewhere. The qualification belongs to the information.
Identify the opinion
For an expert statement, record the author, date, object examined and form of access. Reading a complete signed report is different from reading a website that mentions one. A researcher’s name alone does not establish the contents of an opinion.
Compare like with like
A stylistic comparison is more useful when it identifies the works compared and the features at issue. Differences in date, scale, medium or condition can change what a comparison means. Technical findings and documentary evidence should be considered alongside visual analysis.
Publish revisions transparently
Keep the previous wording and the reason for a change. A catalogue is a record of knowledge at a particular time. This review discusses how such records work; it does not issue authentication certificates.
References & reading
- Getty CDWA — Creation Cataloguing guidance
Source pages reviewed 22 September 2026. The discussion is an editorial synthesis; it is not a finding about the authenticity of a particular work.